Weird Writing Habits That Get You In The Mood!

[Anonymous]

Things that help you get in the writing mood or you just have a habit of doing while writing! Thought it might be cool to see what people do or have around their desk that gets them in the writing mood.

I normally light incense and have some of my gems sitting around that I like.
Sometimes I drink some tea!

Things I have around on my desk to promote creativity:
I have four Beatles figures on my desk from The Yellow Submarine cartoon and bead strings my friend made me to represent different characters.

[Anonymous]

I sit at a desk, comforted in the knowledge that any ability I have requires nothing more than my imagination and dosn't rely on coloured glass or smoldering scented cardboard.

But that's just me.

[Anonymous]

LOL it doesn't rely on it...

>.<

I just meant a thing I liked to do while I was writing.

[Anonymous]

Well, I always like to light some candles and incense to get the creative juices flowing. It helps relax my mind and makes it easier for me to coherently take my ideas and put them in order, instead of just having them flying around my head in little pieces.

And I also have little totems for my characters that sometimes help me communicate with them when they're being bitchy. Of course again these things are not absolutely required for my imagination to work, but it helps and anything that is conducive to the writing process is always welcomed.

[Lion]

Wow, I can't believe someone didn't post music yet.  Well, regardless, music is a must for me.  Any type of music will do as long as if pertains to what I'm writing too and gives me the imaginative visualizations in my head that I need.

I usually listen to something soft to do something more dramatic or something a little heavier like hard rock to write fight scenes because it gives me the proper energies and makes my adrenaline rush.  Doing in-character evaluations (where I pretend I'm my character) helps me get a better understanding of who they are and what they do and why they do what they do (I've come to realize that some are freaking psychos).  I'm not a dramatist but I find it helps me and plus it's kinda fun.

[Anonymous]

*facepalm*

I have some playlists I make in iTunes for some of my characters when I write them. One of my favorite bands to listen to while writing is VAST. :D

[Lion]

Yeah I do that too, except without iTunes.  I find theme songs for my characters and such and create their own soundtracks to help me write them.  For example Dietrich's theme song is "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters.  I generally love Rock of any era (especially Blue Oyster Cult).

[Anonymous]

Ooo I love Foo Fighters!

[Lion]

Oh, me too.  The first time I heard it on the radio, I was thinking: That's the one!  I liked it instantly

[Anonymous]

To be honest i'm kinda lazy when it comes down to the whole rp thing. I dont use anything really. I like to think i'm an impulsive rp'er i dont like to think to much about what the characters are doing, hence why fool is so eccentric and often does 'foolish' things. To be honest often pure boredum gets me writing and pure boredum will stop me. At the moment i'm in a slump my other rp forums are taking a hit rp wise. Give it a few weeks and i'll be at my most foolishness :D

[Anonymous]

Well I'm just getting back into the habit of text based rping...I usually tend to write out stories...and when I do...I have to have silence in my room...I turn off the TV and all music...those things only distract me from what I'm doing. Music does inspire me...but usually when I'm listening to it in my car or while I'm at work. Like I tend to get movie like images of my characters doing various things in my head from different songs when I'm listening to them. I've never really thought about picking out theme songs for my characters...its an interesting idea though. As far as things to help me...well I have a writers guide book called "Writers Guide to Personality Traits" which often helps me choose personalities for my characters and helps me to under stand them better. Also I tend to use Wikipedia a lot for references on several topics. If I’m not entirely sure about something I look it up on Wikipedia.

[Rhindeer]

Dx I'm suffering through writer's block, so I have to pull out all the stops when it comes to writing habits.

Normally it's music. I have a ton of different playlists, and I have a lot of different character-specific songs I use to get into the mood. x3 With some songs, it's the lyrics that remind me of the character, or the voice, or the attitude, or just the music itself evokes a "feeling" that I associate with the character (or a situation the character is in). Then I have music that is more mood music and can apply to lots of characters and situations. Battle music, background music, lovey-dovey music, silly music...

Um, I'm super music oriented. :B

What also helps get me in the mood is to go back and read finished threads with my characters, to remind me of events that happened, little details, and to get a better feel for the character (and it's just fun to see where they started and where they are now). That often inspires and excites me. xD

When I'm going through writer's block (like now), I have to force posts out. Keep writing no matter what. But that's also the time when I start drawing more and play more video games and read some books. It gets the creative juices flowing more. *playing Tales of the Abyss now, which is helping!*

I also go on cleaning sprees. >_> Cleaning/rearranging my room is therapudic and lets me think. My room is sparkly clean right now. xD

Then of course there's meditation and daydreaming. That always works wonders!